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Four men arrested last spring on suspicion of murdering Adan Cervantes Ruiz, 23, in connection with the largest marijuana grow ever busted in Santa Barbara County history, are free men today. Horacio Sanyoto, Dimas Santoyo, Servando Cabrero, and Jose Villa-Cervantes were transported from jail to a Santa Maria courtroom on Friday, February 20, only to hear the case against them dismissed because the prosecution’s chief witness would not cooperate.

“The case was investigated thoroughly by the Sheriff’s Office and they did an excellent job, very thorough,” said Kevin Duffy, deputy district attorney. “However, the key prosecution witness was unwilling to testify truthfully. Therefore we could not ethically proceed at this time, because we could not meet the burden of proof.” The standard of proof necessary to make an arrest and file charges is lower, he noted, than the proof needed for successful prosecution.

Duffy said the uncooperative witness, whom he declined to name, was not implicated in the marijuana grow, adding that he was “on the run” for a while before police caught up with him. When they did, he made it clear he would not be much help on the stand.

At one point, Ruiz’s brother was arrested along with several others in connection with cultivating the marijuana. Investigators at the time said that they believed he was with his brother at the time of the killing and a victim, like Ruiz, of suspects seeking to steal some of the marijuana. Sheriff’s Sgt. Ross Ruth said the brother is not the recalcitrant witness, however.

Ruiz’s body was found September 17, 2008, in a sleeping bag alongside Highway 154, dead of gunshot wound to the chest. Authorities said they believed he was shot two days earlier while people were removing processed and packaged marijuana from the grow site along Highway 1 near Lompoc. Sheriff’s deputies eventually chopped down approximately 93,000 mature plants, some of them on a Spanish land grant cattle ranch owned by Jim Poett, the husband of Marianne Partridge, editor-in-chief of The Independent.

Ruth described the case as “very involved,” “very intense.” He said it took detectives as far afield as Riverside and Sacramento.

Isn't this the case where Sherriff Brown went down to Hemet, Ca, demanded the evidence room of that county be purged of pounds and pounds of weed? Then he drove the weed up to SB for a photo op? I think so.

It is well-known that many marijuana fields are tended by Mexican nationals and controlled by drug gangs in Mexico. Why no mention of the immigration status of the four accused? Were any of them subject to immigration holds while in custody? If so, why were they apparently released?

"Further investigation led the sheriff's department to the Motel 6 in Carpinteria on Via Real, where they arrested nine suspects who they believe to be connected to the Lompoc grow. They continue to investigate the involvement of the nine, but in the meantime have handed all nine were undocumented men over to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement"

Were the four just released part of the nine who were "undocumented men."? It would be a really big story if four illegal aliens who were strongly suspected of murder were simply released to prey on our community. Please clarify if the four released were included in the original nine arrested.